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LU Cardinals release 2015 football schedule

The Lamar Cardinals will play 11 games at Provost Umphrey Stadium during the 2015 season announced head football coach Ray Woodard Tuesday afternoon. The 11-game schedule will consist of an expanded nine-game conference schedule and two non-conference gameS. The non-conference games will include one home date, and a trip to Baylor.

“This year we can only play 11 games, per NCAA rules, and with nine Southland Conference games that only left two dates available,” said head coach Ray Woodard. “In addition to that we’ve also had Baylor lined for some time, so that really only left one date and we wanted that to be a home game.

“This is a schedule that is going to present us with some unique challenges. We only have five home games, so we have to take advantage of every opportunity to play in front of our home fans. In addition, we will not have a stretch of consecutive home games this season. The Southland Conference is a very a tough league, and Baylor is one of the strongest teams in the nation. We are going to be tested from the first game of the season until the last,” added Woodard.

The Cardinals kick off the 2015 slate Saturday, Sept. 5 with their lone non-conference home game of the season against Bacone College. The Warriors will be making their second trip to Beaumont in the past three seasons. Lamar will hit the road for the first time in 2015 when they travel to Waco, to face Baylor. The Bears are coming off another strong season advancing to the 2014 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

The game at Baylor opens a tough stretch that will see the Cardinals play three consecutive away games, and not return to Provost Umphrey Stadium for a month, as Big Red opens Southland Conference play Saturday, Sept. 19th at Sam Houston State. The Cards will get a week off to prepare for an Oct. 3 showdown at Southeastern Louisiana.

Lamar will be back in the friendly confines of Provost Umphrey Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 10, when they host Abilene Christian. The Wildcats will be making their first trip to Beaumont since the 1972 season.

The Northwestern State Demons return to the Lamar schedule this season, as Lamar will once again travel to Natchitoches, La. The game against the Demons will be Saturday, Oct. 17, from Turpin Stadium. The Cards return home to face Central Arkansas the following week, before closing out the month of October by making their first trip to Houston to face the HBU Huskies.

Lamar opens the final month of the regular season at home against Nicholls (Nov. 7), and closes out the road portion of the season Saturday, Nov. 15 at Incarnate Word. Lamar closes out the year with its annual rivalry against McNeese State Saturday, Nov. 21 in Beaumont.